Wednesday, 29 May 2013

60th Anniversary of the Conquest of Mount Everest

Today is the 60th anniversary of the conquest of Mount Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary KG, ONZ, KBE and Tenzing Norgay OSN, GM. Appropriately, news that the Union Flag had flown at the summit of the world reached London on 2nd June, the day of the Coronation of HM The Queen.

Sir Edmund Hillary was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 6 June 1953, a member of the Order of New Zealand in 1987 and a Knight of the Order of the Garter on 22 April 1995. He is one of only 3 New Zealanders to have received the Garter. In 1953 he received the Nepalese Order of Gorka Dakshina Bahu, 1st Class. The Indian Government posthumously conferred the nation's second highest civil award, the Padma Vibhushan, on Hillary in 2008.

Tenzing Norgay received the George Medal on 1 July 1953 (it is believed that discussion of a knighthood had been quashed by India's president Nehru following British consultation with the governments of Nepal and India). Also in 1953, Norgay received the Order of the Star of Nepal, 1st Class from HM King Tribhuvan of Nepal. In 1959 the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan, the country's third highest civil award.

All members of the Everest Expedition, including Hillary and Norgay, received The Queen's Coronation Medal.